CVS

Please Watch My New YouTube Video: Quick Pick CVS

Please Watch My New YouTube Video: Quick Pick CVS

Today’s Quick Pick is CVS Health (CVS). CVS owns a unique combination of healthcare delivery channels. Drugstores, yes–9,000 of them. But the company also owns health insurance company, Aetna, and Caremark, the largest pharmacy benefit manager. And recently it moved into the primary care marketplace through its acquisition of Oak Street. The company reported earnings on Wednesday, February 7, and the stock was up about 3.25% after that. While the earnings were good, (they beat by $0.13) the guidance is what is important here. The company projected higher costs for 2024 and cut guidance for GAAP earnings ($7.06) and adjusted earnings ($8.30). The reason the stock went up despite these cuts is that everyone was expecting DEEPER cuts to guidance. CVS has been signaling for weeks that rising costs in 2024 could be painful for the healthcare sector as a whole, and the relatively minor cuts in guidance led to a rally in the stock. Morningstar calculates a fair value for CVS Health of $103 a share. The stock closed at $76.32 on February 9. The stock also pays a 2.36% dividend. The stock is a member of my Dividend Portfolio. That position is up 31.25% since October 28, 2020.

10 Stocks for the AI Gold Rush–and WHY these picks

10 Stocks for the AI Gold Rush–and WHY these picks

Artificial intelligence really is a paradigm-breaking, transformative technology. Right now, investors are so enthusiastic about the sector, especially the obvious leader Nvidia (NVDA), that we’re looking at a potential bubble that will collapse with much gnashing of teeth and I-told-you-so “wisdom” casting doubt on the reality of the entire endeavor. I think a bubble is indeed possible. Nvidia did trade at a trailing twelve-month price-to-earnings ratio of 196 on May 31, after all. But I think you do want to own the sector now–because the breaking of the bubble, if it does break is, in my opinion, two quarters or more away. And you want to own the sector for the long run–say, 10 years or more–because it is such a game changer for so much of the economy. But what to own? I’ve put together a list of the 10 stocks that I think are the best way to participate in the AI gold rush.

CVS Health raises dividend and 2022 revenue guidance

CVS Health raises dividend and 2022 revenue guidance

CVS Health (CVS) will raise its annual dividend by 10% to $2.20 from $2.00 effective with the dividend payout scheduled for February 1. The company has also authorized a $10 billion share buyback program. The company also raised guidance for the full 2021 year to revenue of at least $290.3 billion and earnings of at least $8.00 a share.